Petconnect Rescue, Inc. v. Salinas

I. INTRODUCTION

18 Before the Court is Plaintiff Petconnect Rescue, Inc.’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion to 19 Compel Further Responses to Discovery Propounded on Defendants Brian Mohrfeld 20 (“Mohrfeld”) and Select Puppies, Inc. (“Select”). Dkt. No. 180. Defendants filed an 21 Opposition. Dkt. No. 182. Having considered the parties’ submissions and supporting 22 exhibits, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel.

II. BACKGROUND

24 On December 30, 2020, Plaintiffs (animal rescue organizations and an individual 25 consumer) filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) alleging Defendants’ “puppy 26 laundering scheme” violated the Lanham Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and 27 28 Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Dkt. No. 93 at 3, 11–31. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege Defendants “ship[ ] in truckloads of designer breed, two-month old puppies from puppy mills in Iowa and Missouri, and sell[ ] them for thousands of dollars each in pet stores with third-party financing designed to facilitate impulse buys.” Id. at 3. The organizational Plaintiffs allege Defendants used their names, marks, and goodwill to…